Worries are intensifying about the German housing market, just as the ECB raises rates to a cycle high. Prices fell by the most in Q2 since records began, according to data released Friday. Building permits have also plunged to the lowest since 2015.
That's running head-first into a government goal to build 400,000 apartments per year.
In response, the government is now deferring a plan to require higher insulation standards in new construction, according to a Reuters report. That's likely to steal a headline from a meeting later today between the building industry and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.